Measurements of airborne aflatoxins during the handling of contaminated corn.

The toxic effects of airborne aflatoxins were studied in agricultural workers (SIC-0115) handling contaminated corn. Fifteen samples of airborne aflatoxin dusts were collected by high volume dust samplers and a high volume Anderson sampler, and downwind dust samples were collected on glass fiber filters from a storage bin. The total aflatoxin content of the airborne dusts ranged from 2560 to 4560 parts per billion (ppb) with an average of 3886ppb. In dust samples from the storage bin, aflatoxin concentrations ranged from 12.5ppb to 204.3ppb with an average of 138ppb. Higher concentrations of aflatoxins were found in the larger corn particles than in the finer particles. Gravimetric dust concentration in the air ranged from 7 to 417 milligrams per cubic meter. The authors conclude that dusts generated upon handling contaminated products may be contaminated and may pose a possible inhalation hazard. The authors suggest that aflatoxin exposure may be hazardous to man, and they recommend that worker exposures be controlled.